Daily Scripture Reflection

Scripture: Lectionary: Revelation 18:1-2,21-23. 19: 1-3,9. Psalm 100:2.3.4.5 . Luke 21:20-28:

“Blessed are they who are called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.”
These are consoling words which frame our Psalm and its response. The
Psalm itself is filled with hope and joy. We are led to realize that
the kingdom of God is to be ours and even more amazingly that the
kingdom of God is within us. In our journey through Revelation we are
now at the point where the sinful image of Babylon is being destroyed.
Babylon represents the city of Rome and the incomplete number refers
to its emperor (Nero). John’s visions reflect the historical times of
several evil emperors.
God is again and again praised with hymns of glory and victory. We are
invited to the banquet and wedding of the Lamb. These themes also are
found in the Gospel of John. John of Patmos belongs to the school of
St. John, but is more simple in his Greek and even has some
grammatical mistakes not found in the Gospel. The tone of John of
Patmos is more Jewish-Christian than Greek-Christian. He relies
heavily on the scrolls of the prophets and the Torah.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus describes what he sees in the coming
destruction of the holy city, Jerusalem. This is a sign of the final
days. We know, however, that Luke encourages us by his narrative to
live in the present and to realize we have the kingdom of God within
us. This gives us hope despite some of the terrifying selections that
occur this week in the liturgical readings. Luke realizes already
that Jerusalem has been ransacked and desecrated by the Romans. The
Gospel thus shows that both Jesus and Luke were thinking in a
historical way when describing so accurately what already had
happened.
We have these Scriptures to help us reflect and meditate upon as we
come to the end of another liturgical year. Advent is already very
near and we will be turning throughout the coming year to the Gospel
of Luke in Year Three of the liturgical calendar. Matthew, Mark, and
Luke are the sequence that the liturgy follows. As we finish this
week of readings, we can overcome any fear that we have from the
readings by realizing we are among those who are called to the wedding
of the Lamb. “Come, Lord Jesus! “ Amen.

Copyright 2012 Fr. Bertrand Buby, S.M.